New Delhi: Samsung Electronics introduced the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge Tuesday in one of the quickest launches of a flagship model in India, where it is battling global rival Apple for the pole position in the premium segment, which offers the highest value share.

The South Korean smartphone maker not only priced the S7 and S7 Edge at what analysts termed a competitive Rs 48,900 and Rs 56,900, respectively, it also introduced free, lifetime privilege concierge services exclusively for customers of these devices. It is offering a virtual reality headset for free to those who book the devices till March 17, a day before the phones go on sale.

“We are confident we will consolidate our market share from 48.2% by volume in January 2016, as per GfK, in the Rs 30,000-and-above segment with these devices,” said Manu Sharma, director mobile at Samsung India.

Two research agencies – Counterpoint Technology Market Research and Cybermedia Research – pegged Apple as the leader in the premium segment by volume in the October-December quarter, which Samsung disputed, citing GfK figures.

“The pricing will arrest the decline of market share as it may prevent people from going to Apple, which in turn should further strengthen their position in traditionally strong second and third quarters (April to September),” said Tarun Pathak, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research. “Additional storage (200 GB) and VR headset bundled should also aid in this increase.”

India is the fastest-growing smartphone market in the world and No. 2 by unique users – surpassing the US – making the South Asian nation critical for global handset makers. This is why companies including Apple and Xiaomi are closing the gap between their global and India device launches.

Cupertino-based Apple started selling the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in India within a month of the US launch in September and China’s No. 1 smartphone vendor Xiaomi may bring the Mi 5 to India in April, less than a month after opening bookings in China. Samsung’s first global announcement of the S7 devices was made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 21.

“India is seen as a priority market and a strong market globally…Since we make in India, we can do a parallel launch in India without waiting,” Sharma said, adding that all its phones and tablets were made locally, giving it another advantage besides pricing.

According to International Data Corporation, global smartphone shipments grew 10.1% to 1.43 billion units in 2015 from 1.3 billion in 2014. Shipments in India climbed 28.8% to 103.6 million units in 2015 over the previous year.

Sharma estimated India’s market would grow 16-18% by value in 2016 compared with 20% in 2015, while claiming a 46.5% value share as of January in the smartphone market.

The Korean giant has been facing immense competitive pressure with the share of Indian handset makers rising and Chinese entrants trying to make the most of the rapid growth rate in the country, many of them fighting in the entry-level to mid-level price segments.

Sharma said consumers don’t look only at prices while buying phones – value and meaningful innovation form key differentiators in a market as competitive as India.

It is also evaluating introducing the free concierge service that takes care of a customer’s errands, backed by the Haaptik app, in the Galaxy 6, 6S and Note 5 models. Samsung may offer free pick-up and drop repair services as part of after-sales care.

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